Culturally Authentic Texts for ALL Students and Those Who Need Them Most

Gender Culture

While the following texts represent several rings of culture authentically, they illuminate the themes, issues, situations and identities related to authentic gender culture particularly well.

Morris Mickelwhite and the Tangerine Dress by Christine Baldacchino and Isabelle Malenfant

Morris is a little boy who loves using his imagination. But most of all, Morris loves wearing the tangerine dress in his classroom’s dress-up center. The children in Morris’s class don’t understand. Dresses, they say, are for girls. And Morris certainly isn’t welcome in the spaceship some of his classmates are building. Astronauts, they say, don’t wear dresses. One day when Morris feels all alone and sick from their taunts, his mother lets him stay home from school. Morris dreams of a fantastic space adventure with his cat, Moo. Inspired by his dream, Morris paints the incredible scene he saw and brings it with him to school. He builds his own spaceship, hangs his painting on the front of it and takes two of his classmates on an outer space adventure. Amazon

The Other Boy by M.G. Hennessey

The first middle grade book about a trans boy, The Other Boy is about 12-year-old Shane Woods, a regular guy who likes baseball, graphic novels, and hanging out with his best friend. But when a classmate threatens to reveal his trans status Shane has to find the courage to show the world he’s the same guy he was before. Book Riot

Freakboy by Kristin Elizabeth Clark

From the outside, Brendan Chase seems to have it pretty easy. He’s a star wrestler, a video game aficionado, and a loving boyfriend to his seemingly perfect match, Vanessa. But on the inside, Brendan struggles to understand why his body feels so wrong—why he sometimes fantasizes having long hair, soft skin, and gentle curves. Is there even a name for guys like him? Guys who sometimes want to be girls? Or is Brendan just a freak? Goodreads